Ted Cruz Is Officially Running For President. After majorly spoiler alert-ing this announcement on every single news organization and social media platform known to man, including Yahoo Groups, Sen. Ted Cruz will make the actual announcement today, though not from Texas. He’ll do it from Liberty University in Virginia. He’s the first GOP candidate to jump in.

Yoga Does Not Work For Everyone. As Nancy Duarte evidently found when she misplaced her zen and tried to burn down Sunstone Yoga on Mockingbird Lane Saturday night. The studio suffered minimal damage. Per the Morning News, “a witness, Phineas Bennett-Lovari, said the woman was lighting matches and pieces of paper and throwing them into the air, yelling, ‘I’m going to burn this [expletive] down. I don’t care if I go to jail.'” Duarte was arrested and charged with arson.

Uptown Definitely Getting A Dream Hotel. Dallas is one a few cities with Dream Hotels in the works, as the boutique brand is adding six new properties. It will be on McKinney Ave. near Bowen Street. The plans were delayed while developers worked with residents to address parking and noise concerns.

They’re back. From canvas to straw and with the occasional pom-pom, totes are all around us. But not all totes are created equal, so before you head to the beach with the same old bag from last year, be sure to check out these shops around town to pick up your new favorite spring break accessory.

All aboard for seven glorious days and nights on the Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Cruise Lines’ modern luxury ship geared toward the gourmand. Join Dallas chefs Matt McCallister and John Tesar along with TJ’s Fish Market expert Jon Alexis for a culinary adventure through one of the most majestic areas of Alaska. Get your details here.

By now, I suspect many of you have had a chance to see the result of the $500 million Love Field Modernization Program, which is a less irritating way to say it has been transformed into a [rhymes with “burled grass”] airport. The remodel was finished this fall, around the time the Wright Amendment went away and Southwest Airlines was finally able to fly nonstop to cities farther away than Lubbock. There is a new 20-gate terminal, new restaurants and shops, a new baggage claim area with new and more carousels, and a new passenger pickup area.

All of the upgrades inside the airport are pretty solid. I would say it seems like it takes longer to get bags off the plane and into the airport. But since I never check bags, I consider any wait at all to be interminable, so I’m probably a bad judge. On the plus side, having a place to grab a pre-flight drink that is not a terrible fake Irish pub called McJimmylegs or whatever automatically elevates any airport.

It is the part of the Love Field Modernization Program outside the airport — the new passenger pickup area — that is an absolute catastrophe.

I have seen just about all of the high-speed rail systems throughout Europe and Asia, and the competitive part of me feels that if the rest of the world can do this, why can’t we right here in the United States? This along with the practical attraction to having an alternative transportation mode between two of the fastest growing economic zones in the country sparked my interest and compelled me to join the Texas Central Railway team.

LONDON — I’m working from London all week — and if you think I haven’t been assaulting people with that Paul Rudd quote from the above clip, why do we even pretend to know each other? — so I took in the big football match yesterday.

Though Rod Davis doesn’t currently live in Dallas, we can still call him a Dallas dude. He did two stints with D Magazine. He’s got a lifetime membership. Harry Hunsicker is definitely a Dallas dude. Harry has written for the magazine, and his most recent novel is The Contractors. Rod’s newest is South, America. Both books are set in the South, and this Saturday at 1:45, the gents will together discuss how geography plays role in their gritty fiction. If you are headed down to the festival, I definitely recommend that you catch these two guys let Rod know in the Q&A portion of their talk that you think Harry has better hair than he does. The full schedule is here.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit opened its much-anticipated Orange Line segment at the new DFW Airport Station August 18, linking the country’s longest light rail system to the world’s third-busiest airport.

Governor Perry Indicted. A Travis County grand jury indicted Rick Perry on two felony charges, abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant, late Friday. He vetoed $7.5 million in funds to the Public Integrity Unit after its leader, a prominent county Democrat, refused to resign after her arrest for drunk driving. Perry has a summons to appear, and may do so as early as today.

Two Killed in South Dallas. One other person was injured, in a shooting spree that happened very early this morning along Ledbetter Road. Police are searching for suspects.

Dallas Theater Center Does a Very Nice Thing. An Alaskan teenager sent the DTC a letter, thanking them for their modernized interpretation of Les Miserables. She hadn’t actually seen the show, of course, but she’d read about it and looked at pictures and watched a few short clips. She asked if there was a chance they’d videotape the whole thing, and the theater (along with the Fairmont Hotel) responded by bringing her to Dallas for closing night, which was Sunday. It was super sweet.

I love maps of Dallas. I can’t read a traditional map to save my life, which pre-iPhone days, made for many hours lost somewhere between point A and point B. But I love maps that tell me something about my city. One of my favorites is this map by David Harman, which is screen-printed and hand made. It’s pretty, and I’ve seen it framed and hanging in various coffee shops around town. (David created these maps while in Dallas, but is now pursuing an MFA in Painting in Knoxville.) My other favorite is this one, created by the folks at bcWorkshop. This map portrays the 318 communities in Dallas. I printed this out and put it on my desk for a few days. I heard, “I didn’t know that part of town is called that” multiple times while people studied the map. It also led to an argument or two.

As Peter has mentioned, Maxwell Anderson was a driving force behind bringing the New Cities Summit to Dallas. When Anderson called John Rossant, chairman of the New Cities Foundation, and Mathieu Lefevre, executive director of New Cities Foundation, and told them to check out Dallas, Lefevre was doubtful. “It’s pretty bad,” was his first thought of Dallas, but by the end of his first trip, Lefevre was sold. “Actually, [Dallas] is awesome. There’s a dynamism,” he said. “Not every city is willing to reimagine itself.” The selling point? The Arts District.

DISD Recruit’s Mother Pointing Fingers at the District Post Death. Tammy Simpson knew it was illegal when DISD recruited her son, then living at the Dallas County Youth Village, to play basketball at Wilmer-Hutchins High School. But she thought the move would be the best thing for him. She says DISD forged residency papers, and her son, Troy Causey, hit the court. He died March 24 as a result of injuries sustained in a fight. Fifteen DISD employees, including coaches, administrators, and staff were fired Friday.

STARR Results Terrible Despite Success Initiative. In 2009, the Student Success Initiative was expanded to cover all third through eighth grade students who were identified as at risk of failing the state exams. Three years later, the Dallas Morning News is reporting that results show little improvement with widening gaps for some of the state’s lowest-performing students overall.

A New Orleans-Style Funeral For a Not-Officially-Dead-Yet Tollway. Some 50 residents and business owners in Bishop Arts gathered Friday to bid adieu to the Trinity Tollway project. They, as many have before, pointed out funding obstacles, environmental harm, and the overall impracticality of the project.

Ted Cruz Still a GOP Rockstar. He was quite the hit at the Texas Republican Convention over the weekend in Fort Worth.

If you’ve been around this blog or our magazine for any length of time, then you’re familiar with the name Richard Patterson. He’s a British painter of some renown. Every so often, we trick him into writing something for us. Perhaps you recall what he had to say about the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. More recently, last summer, he wrote a piece for the magazine about a religious experience he had at a Fort Worth Jaguar dealership. Correction: he didn’t write that story for the magazine; he just sent along an email, to keep us apprised of what was going on in his life, and then we decided the email needed to be published. Richard is something of a Jaguar nut. He drives a 1994 XJS. Or, rather, he drove a 1994 XJS. Last week, someone plowed into his car, totaling it. I thought you might enjoy the obituary he wrote for his dearly departed car:

Dallas Has a Major Pothole Problem. It’s no shocker that all the rain did not help matters, either. Crews were out on Monday temporarily repairing damaged streets, but some drivers are saying their commutes have as much as doubled from the hazardous roads. Drier weather will allow road repair workers to more permanently fix the gaping issue.

Dallas’ FBI Office Has A New Boss. And he has a pretty serious résumé. Before being named special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas Division, Thomas Class Sr. was section chief of the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group with the Bureau’s National Security Branch in Washington, D.C. He was a police officer and detective in St. Petersburg, Florida prior to joining the FBI.

New Alehouse To Open In Exposition Park. Taking the place of the recently-closed Amsterdam Bar, Eight Bells Alehouse is prepping to open by the end of May. The owners of Brit-inspired pub Ten Bells Tavern in Bishop Arts are behind the project, noting they’ve wanted to open a second location for a while. Noble Coyote Coffee Roasters and Expo Bar and Grill will also set up shop in Exposition Park in the coming months.

Texas Foster Care System May Double Training Requirements. The new stipulation might be 35 hours of training, a number more than two times what many foster families go through now. Republican Rep. Cindy Burkett proposed the bill at a hearing in Austin Monday afternoon to tighten up the system’s screening process, but critics are concerned it will make recruiting foster homes an even tougher job. Recommended companion reading: this MotherJones story about a child who died in privatized foster care in Rockdale, Texas in 2013.

D Magazine and Celebrity Cruise Line have teamed up with Dallas chefs Matt McCallister and John Tesar along with TJ’s Fish Market expert Jon Alexis to a culinary adventure through one of the most majestic areas of Alaska. Join us for a reception on Monday, March 9, 2015 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM and meet our chefs and listen to the Celebrity’s naturalist Brent Nixon.

In Alto Adige, you’ll find massive sloping terraces of vines that soar thousands of feet into the sky, with conditions influenced by the Dolomite Mountains leading into the Italian and Swiss Alps. Maintaining vines that typically shouldn’t exist at elevations so high is laborious, but worth it for the wines the region produces.

Though harvest wrapped slightly earlier than normal this year, it is still the ideal time to visit one of the best wine regions in the world. I had a chance to visit earlier this month, enjoying several must do experiences as a guest of the wineries I visited.

The Loire Valley region is known as the “Garden of France” thanks to an abundance of vineyards, orchards, and fields of growing grains and vegetables. It stretches almost 185 miles long and runs down the Loire River through historic cities such as Amboise, Angers, Chinon, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours. Hayley Hamilton takes us on a trip through the Loire and discusses some of the most approachable, easy drinking wines in the world.

There Are So Many Tires In The Trinity River.Tons, in fact. And until recently, the job of removing them was left to volunteer groups. Now, a Dallas-based company called Good Earth Inc. has a city contract that will pay out $850 per ton, with a cap at $2.8 million over three years. They have pulled 114 tons of rubber thus far.

City Pension Funds For Same-Sex Spouses Stalled. The City Council has taken steps to protect LGBT municipal employees by adopting resolutions that call for equal treatment and to amend personnel rules with language prohibiting discrimination. However, city pension benefits for these employees and their spouses are still in flux, because Texas does not recognize same-sex marriages.

World’s Biggest Passenger Jet Lands at DFW Airport. The double-decker A380, which is almost 8 stories tall and can carry 500 passengers, begins scheduled service this week. It’s so massive that the airport had to make about $4.5 million in renovations to accommodate it. Should you feel like flying in something I find fairly terrifying, you can go to Sydney, Australia on Qantas, or Dubai on Emirates.

TxDOT v. NCTCOG. In a charming battle of bureaucratic acronyms, the North Central Texas Council of Governments is using high traffic estimates to justify a toll road that would stretch from Garland to Greenville, through Dallas, Collin, Rockwall, and Hunt counties. The Texas Department of Transportation’s forecasts are much lower. There’s other stuff going on, too, like the fact that NCTCOG’s estimates for population growth in Rockwall and Hunt counties is significantly higher than state estimates. Anyway, just read this.

The thick skinned, often difficult to grow Albariño delivers refined yet vibrant aromas melding into mineral filled, juicy stone fruit and citrus flavors, highlighting the delicate nature of the grape and the exact place it has been grown.

The beauty of Napa Valley is that in a very small area you can grow the exact same grapes, yet from one side of the road to the other the end result can be completely different. This is why Napa is so special.

Franciacorta…a name, a region, a wine…all completely Italian from a majestic wine country, so pleasing to the eye that it is the facade that New World wineries should look to when they want to create an aesthetically pleasing, welcoming property

The first time I saw Nelson, it was from my apartment window. I saw his parents on the silver Vespa first. Then I saw the sidecar. And then I saw Nelson, the Goldendoodle, in the sidecar. It was one of the greatest sights I’ve ever seen. (I realize I need to get out more.)

The second time I saw Nelson, he was at Klyde Warren Park. His dad had just put his goggles on, and he had just been loaded into his sidecar. I ran over like a madwoman and asked if I could take a photo.

I love Nelson and his family, not just because they’re adorable, but because I’ve had a scooter for a year, and every day since I purchased the scooter, I’ve talked to my husband about getting a sidecar and putting our dogs in it. But here’s the thing: it would never work. I love my dogs, but they’re not incredibly smart. Instead of staying away from cars’ bumpers, they try to sniff them as we walk past. If they see a squirrel, they lose it. So I know my dogs could never, ever be as cool as Nelson. Which means I could never, ever be as cool as Nelson’s parents.

I wanted to know more about Nelson and his scooter-riding ways, so I called his mom, Genesis Lee. Below is a Q&A on how the whole thing got started and why Nelson is probably the best dog in Dallas (sorry, Miko and Maya).

Design District Up for Sale. Well a portion of it. Lionstone Group scooped up some 30 acres in 2007. Now, they’re putting their remaining properties on the market, the majority of which fall on Oak Lawn Avenue and Hi Line Drive.

Woman Arrested for Allegedly Shooting Dog. I mean, really? A bus of school children came across the bloodied dog and her 10 pups on the side of the road. What a disaster.